UNION CITY — The FBI this morning raided City Hall in Union City, along with the offices of a politically tied contractor, as part of a widening investigation into the city’s community development agency.

Sources with knowledge of the investigation said it appeared to focus on the possible fraudulent awarding of Community Development Block Grant funds by the city.

A spokeswoman for the FBI confirmed that agents arrived at city hall this morning at 8 a.m. on “official business.” While she would not provide further details, she said agents for the bureau went to the city’s community development agency “pursuant to an ongoing criminal investigation."

The spokeswoman, Barbara Woodruff, confirmed that agents also made a visit this morning to the offices of Lado Construction, which is located in Union City. Company officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Woodruff said that no arrests will be made today by the FBI, and she added that the information gathered will be used to pursue the inquiry further.

Mark Albiez, a spokesman for the city’s powerful mayor, Brian Stack, who also a state senator, said that the city is “fully cooperating with the investigation.”

FBI agents raid city hall in Union CityAgents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided city hall in Union City early Wednesday morning. The bureau went to the city's community development agency which administers the federally-funded Community Development Block Grant Program. Union City Mayor Brian Stack said the city will fully cooperate with the investigation. (Video by Adya Beasley / The Star-Ledger)

“We cannot comment on ongoing investigation,” Albiez said.

The community development agency, located on the fourth floor of city hall, administers the federally-funded Community Development Block Grant program. The agency is run by Kennedy Ng, a former city commissioner who is also a member of the local school board.

A community activist, Joseph Blaettler, who is often at odds with the mayor, said he contacted the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development several months ago regarding what he believed were questionable contracts using federal funds that were awarded for sidewalk repairs and façade improvements.

Over the past three years, $3.6 million in HUD money has gone to the city, federal officials said, including $868,776 this fiscal year.